being at one with yourself
One of the teachings from my parents that I remember vividly while growing up was
their instruction about integrity and their insistence that I “be at one with myself”.
That was how they described having integrity—acting and doing the things I
professed to believe in. My parents stressed that I was never to lower my
standards or behave in any way to impress others or so that I would be accepted
by them. I was expected to do what I knew was right. And if I didn’t, to anticipate
the consequences of my actions.
To some people that may sound harsh. But even as a little kid, I wanted to do what
was right. I knew how I behaved meant a lot to my mom and dad. They wanted
me to be happy and living so I didn’t act one way around them and another way
around others made me happy, too. And, as Mark Twain once said, “When you tell
the truth [or act the way you should] you never have to remember
anything.”
However, I can tell you for sure that when I did not act with integrity, it was like
having a boomerang poking around in my gut. It was uncomfortable, and I didn’t
like that feeling.
In April 2024 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, Elder Jack Gerard centered his remarks during the Saturday morning
session on the topic of
INTEGRITY.
He quoted President Spencer W. Kimball who taught, “Integrity is our willingness
and ability to live by our beliefs and commitments.” That sounded very familiar
to me. It echoed what my parents had begun teaching me nearly eight decades
ago.
Elder Gerard emphasized that living a life of integrity requires us to be true to God,
to each other, and to our divine identity. He said, “Jesus Christ is our Exemplar.
Living a life of integrity requires us to be true to God, to each other, and to our
divine identity. Integrity flows from the first great commandment to love God.
Because you love God, you are true to Him at all times. You understand that there
is
right and wrong and there is absolute truth—God’s truth.”
The Lord told Adam and Eve as they left the Garden of Eden that there would be
opposition in the world. It is a very vital part of God’s plan for us. How we respond
to that opposition is what reveals who we really are. It is the gauge of our
personal integrity. It is the outward representation of an inner promise to follow the
Savior Jesus Christ.
From the first great commandment to love God, being true to each other naturally
springs
from the second commandment, to love our neighbors as ourselves.
In spite of the fact much of the world now does not pay attention to “truth”, we need
to beware of Christian kindness which may overlook or even adopt standards that
the Lord did not set. As covenant people with God, we must be beyond reproach
and align ourselves always with the standards the Lord has set. Undoubtedly, we
are going to be at variance with much that goes on in the world and passes for
truth.
The third requirement of integrity necessitates us to be true to our divine identity…
that we are literally spirit children of a loving Heavenly Father. From Him and His
Son Jesus Christ, we have been taught light and knowledge that helps us be true
to the
person they know we can become...true to the very end!
In the Old Testament after Job had amassed much material wealth and a large
family, he lost it all in the destruction of a whirlwind. Then his friends scorned him
because they were sure his loss was the result of sin he had committed. They
even told him to curse God and die.
But Job said, “Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine
integrity.”
What a powerful statement about the virtue of integrity! Job had not committed sin,
nor would he besmirch his honorable life by acting in a way that was opposite of
what he knew
was true as a son of God.
I invite you—and myself—to follow Job’s example, but more importantly, the
Savior’s example in all He did, not to shrink but live a life that is true to God, to
each other, and to our divine identity.
